The Simplest Change
by Mistress of Vyolence
Summary: After leaving the Makai, Hiei begins to think of his future and what he sees himself doing in a few years. After studying human relationships like Yusuke and Keiko's, he in conflicted with either trying to find a mate or keeping on his path of power.
1. Chapter 1

The breeze that blew through his back hair was chilly like the upcoming fall would be. Days have passed since he had any interaction with his friends. The time had come that his anger and seclusion was not all that he wanted anymore and his friends could not quench a feeling deep within him. Desperation had not yet overcome the young fire boy, but the seclusion had taken its toll and made him angrier at the world. How was he going to find someone to be with when he could not even stand to constantly be around the people he called his friends? A mate was someone he would have to spend a lot more time with than the others, but he had to love her first or he would never want to try to be less antisocial. The closest thing he had ever gotten to that feeling – love – was his sister Yukina, and she did not even know that he was her brother.

Tearing his thoughts from his hidden and dormant feelings, he jumped from the tree he had been perched in. The few friends he had walked by only moments ago as his thoughts forced him into a daze, and he knew the fox had noticed him because he had not even concealed his aura yet. There was no use hiding from them now; his own thoughts had gotten him caught. Watching them walk in the distance, he realized that they were headed to the college campus to start their first day of college. He had not bothered to sign up for any classes even though they had made him enroll. At the time he saw no use for the classes or the contact between humans and him, but now since he had made the decision that would change his life and hopefully bring a certain closure to it, he immediately rethought the idea.

To catch up with his friends would mean explaining his reasoning for going right away and he had not thought up an excuse. It had to be a good lie or Kurama would be suspicious. The fox always seemed to know when he was lying and dancing around the truth, even when it had came to his sister. That meant that he would have to either take completely different classes then all four of them, or that he would have to enroll in just the ones he was interested in. Either way he would have to find a way to get there unnoticed by them, at least for today, so he could sign up for the classes. Suddenly he wished that he had paid more attention to them when they talked about the ones they were in, but since he was almost as good at reading people as Kurama, he could probably guess them perfectly.

It only took him a couple minutes of walking to get close enough to them that he had to stop and jump into a tree. They had stopped walking to let Yusuke and Kuwabara fight with each other out in the grass of the campus, which was attracting people. Since Kurama had already sensed his aura, getting any closer to them would be running the risk of getting caught. If he stayed further away, Kurama would think that he was watching them from a distance like he normally did when they went out. The people coming around to watch the fight were also something he wanted to avoid. He was very short and had only grown a couple inches since the Makai tournament, and Yusuke had made sure that everyone, including himself, knew it. Being around them during the scuffle would only get him harassed and teased., possibly even called a sibling of theirs. Just that thought alone was enough to almost enrage him.

After the fight was broken up by the Dean and Yusuke was sent to his office, normality ensued and the group walked on towards the building where their classes were. This coincidence left him open to walk around the campus without worrying about being caught. As his eyes wandered, he noticed how small the place really was. Not many people could have been going there or there would not be any room for all of them. There were many girls though, which made him start to think about the kind of girl he needed to look out for.

Never before had the fire child flirted or tried to court a girl so he knew nothing about it. Wrong: he knew a lot of things he should not do, courtesy of Kuwabara and his obsession with women, especially his sister. Though he practically hated the man, he knew had to thank him one day for the tips. That left his other problem; was he really going to give his love to a human girl? Yusuke did to Keiko, but they were both in love with each other before they knew he was a demon. Maybe if a woman fell in love with him before she knew he was a demon? That way he could just pretend that he did not know and they could live happily ever after.

The last thought sickened him slightly in the fact that he was thinking such things, being who he was. Was he even capable of living peacefully being the angry and lonely fire demon he had always been? Kurama did not even have a mate and he was much older, and seemed as though he did not need one. Of course, it was always hard to tell what was on the foxes mind so he was not really sure about his assumption at all. As his thoughts of their similarities in the "love" department continued, his senses suddenly spiked. He could sense no demonic aura around, but a familiar scent caught his attention as he walked. The prickling of the hair on the back of his neck was the last straw and he turned around, his eyes widening.


	2. Chapter 2

"**Short shit! Don't act so surprised to see me,**" Yusuke said, walking up to him with a large grin on his face and scratches on his left cheek. Out of everyone he knew the last people he wanted around him while he was so vulnerable were Yusuke or Kurama. They were the closest to him by choice and sometimes could tell that he was bothered by something, even though he had only let one thing slip to Yusuke. **"Turns out me and Kuwabara are not allowed to fight on campus, even if it's a mutual thing and we both agree to it. What are you doing here though? I thought you were taking the week off from being our babysitter."**

He did not want to answer with anything but a grunt, but if he did that then he would seem more suspicious than he already was. How Yusuke could have walked up to him like he did, without him instantly knowing who it was, confused him. **"Hn, How is it any of your business?"** he started, his eyes narrowing in play with his irritated voice. If he was going to lie than he had to act the part.** "I thought I saw someone suspicious walk into the campus. Just because we are no longer spirit detectives does not mean that I am going to allow a demon to ruin my day."** Maybe he had thought his lie out too thoroughly within those couple of seconds, but it sounded believable even to him. That surprised him slightly but he blocked any of those emotions from his blank exterior. Even Yusuke seemed to trust his words by the way he started looking around. This at least granted him access to walk around further and find where he needed to go to sign up for classes without having to explain his manifestation. Following someone that did not exist would be an easy task that even the simplest minded humans could do.

A smirk almost emerged on his face from how pleased he was at his lie, but quickly faded when Yusuke spoke again.** "You mind if I walk around with you? I got suspended for a week for that fight and I bet you could use the extra pair of eyes. College is turning out like high school quicker than I imagined."** His words ended with a small chuckle as he stood next to the fire demon. Almost instantly he was fuming in his mind, his thoughts clouded with ways to lose the Mazoku within the confines of the campus. It was not part of his plan to bring him along as he signed up for classes.

_"No, I do not need anyone to accompany me. Have I ever needed anyone before? No,"_ was what he wished he could say to the eager boy, but he found that the actual words would not come out. It might have been the fact that he no longer thought those words was true that drove him to silence; he did want a mate after all. Though that seemed like the most feasible answer at first, he quickly came to the conclusion that he needed to spend more time around people so he could get used to it and would not scare off the women by his strange attitude towards company. The idea made him slightly queasy, but he realized he had no other choice. How was he ever going to find someone by being alone all of the time? It did not seem probable at all.

From his silent thoughts he slowly drifted back into reality to see Yusuke staring at him. An instant look of anger shot across his face to hide his embarrassment. This swept Yusuke's worried expression right off and replaced it with a smile. **"I thought you might have been stuck in that big head of yours. Way to zone out,"** he said, starting to walk ahead. A low growl escaped from his slightly parted lips as he tried to hold in his many insults he could fling at Yusuke. Watching him walk ahead, he contemplated telling him why he was really there, just to get him off of his back. His mind lingered on that thought for a couple seconds before he decided that it was not worth the effort; he would only insult or make fun of him, even if he did not even mention the part about finding a mate. If not that, he would surely let his true intentions slip to someone else. Yusuke was good with secrets, but one like this?

His thoughts had stopped him from following Yusuke, which once again made him stop and give him a worried look. **"What are you staring at?"** Hiei hissed as his body once again started moving. **"I would have thought that someone with your suspension problem would not want to start another fight."** He added that last part to only fire him up more and possibly get him to leave, as insulting his friends had always been a good way to get them angry with him. As he approached the boy, his own expression began to change to mimic Yusuke's confused but awed expression and he turned to see what was making him act so strangely. The Mazoku was not staring at him, but past him, to a pair of girls walking alone down the sidewalk.

At first he was completely caught up in the strange aura that both girls gave off, but soon his crimson orbs focused in on the shorter girl. She was exactly his height, her strange red-colored hair reminding him instantly of Kurama's, but only by the shade and a slight bit darker. Her icy blue eyes seemed to pierce the book that her companion was shoving in her face until they moved slowly onto his form, looking him over. He felt chills run down his spine that lasted until her eyes had went back to the book. What only took a second to happen seemed like it had taken days to finish, which stunned him even more. His eyes had involuntarily widened as she walked by, the almost electrical way her aura moved lapping at his body and making the air around him cold.

Once she was gone from his sight, Yusuke walked over to him and looked around. **"I'm guessing they are the ones you felt earlier. I could barely feel the aura on the bookworm, but her friend did not even bother to conceal at all. Like she was purposely getting your attention,"** he said, a nervous but confused look being replaced by a small smirk that he did not like at all. **"You know them? Got a girlfriend, do ya?"**


	3. Chapter 3

A flash of steel and Yusuke was on the ground with his katana at his throat. He did not understand how the man had gone as long as he did without getting on his last nerve, but his comments were completely out of line. **"I have no such thing!" **he hissed dangeriously, sheathing the blade and turning away. Yusuke was too close to the truth for him to be safe around him anymore. He would have to try to get into the college some other time and with a better plan. He had not meant to be so defensive in the face of that question, but the anguish in his mind had pushed him over the edge. Now he would have to find somewhere that no one would look for him so that he could be alone again; he knew now that he definitely needed some time to think.

He apologized to the boy in his mind before storming off towards the closest exit he could see. There would be no looking back to make sure he did not hurt his friend, though he knew there was no way he had killed him. His friendship prevented him from doing such an act. Something in him wanted to go find the women and find out who they were and why he could not get her eyes from his thoughts, but something else in him wanted the sanctuary of the top of a building or a dark alleyway. His inner conflicts were getting to be too much to handle out in the open, so his final decision lead him from the exit and to the tallest building in the campus. That way, he could be somewhat close to them and be completely alone at the same time.

As his thoughts and emotions were allowed to run rampant, he perched himself on top of the administration building. His back was against a wall and his sword was in his lap. The bandages that he wore around his right arm tightened as he clenched his fingers into a fist and slammed his hand into the ground. Not many things had left him so speechless and blown away, but it was wrong to intrude upon the girl and her friend. Now that he had the mental picture of the two in such a clear thought, he knew they had to be something more than friends or acquaintances by the way their faces looked. Both girls had the same nose and eye shape, though the black-haired girl had emerald eyes and the crimson-haired one had blue ones.

No matter what he thought about, he could not get the picture of her eyes out of his mind. This was a blessing and a curse, as now he could further analyze her emotions towards him. Letting the mental image take over his vision, he noticed something that he felt himself: curiosity and shock. Had she known that he was a powerful demon and that he could sense her aura himself? Maybe she knew there was no point in trying to hide it from him, or she could not even hide herself at all?

Thoughts of the girl would have driven him crazy if he were to dwell on it any longer, so he started thinking about how his life would change once he went to college. High school had been easy once they gave up on forcing him to show for class, but he knew that was not how he would be able to behave now. He would have to show up every day and pay attention so he could pass higher than any human. He was quick to learn, but he knew Kurama was still smarter when it came to book smarts, but he had the street smarts. If something was complicated then he could always ask for help, even though that was not something likely to happen. They really had never learned that he would not ask help for anything, unless it regarded his life or his sister.

Hearing Yusuke's familiar voice shouting from below, he approached the side of the roof quietly and slowly so he would not draw unwanted attention to himself. From the way his friend continued shouting, he knew it was either something important or something insanely retarded. His eyes quickly found him and he watched him intently. His hand was out in front of him as he ran towards a pair of girls; the girl's that they had run into earlier. **"Hey! Stop, I want to talk to you!"** he shouted again, catching up to them as they walked on. Clearly they were uninterested in what he had to say from the way they ignored him.


End file.
